Dam reoperation in an era of climate change

2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Watts ◽  
B. D. Richter ◽  
J. J. Opperman ◽  
K. H. Bowmer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Flood Management ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Future Supply ◽  
Current Water ◽  
Desalination Plants

Climate change is predicted to affect the future supply and demand for water resources. Current water-management practices may not adequately cope with the impacts of climate change on the reliability of water supply, flood risk, health, agriculture, energy generation and aquatic ecosystems. Water managers can adapt to climate variability by structural change, such as increasing the size or number of dams, building desalination plants and transferring water between catchments; however, a broader set of alternatives with multiple beneficial outcomes for society and the environment should be explored. We discuss how modifying dam operations, ‘dam reoperation’, can assist with adaptation to climate change and help restore ecosystems. The main operating purpose of a dam (e.g. flood management, hydropower or water supply) will influence dam reoperation strategies. Reoperation may require integration across sectors or involve multiple dams, enhancing benefits such as water supply or hydropower while simultaneously achieving ecosystem restoration. We provide examples of lessons learned during extreme scenarios (e.g. floods and droughts), where operational flexibility has been demonstrated. We contrast structural climate-change adaptation strategies (e.g. building new dams) and their resulting detrimental environmental outcomes with dam reoperation, which can maximise benefits for ecosystems and society.

The MINK Project: A New Methodology for Identifying Regional Influences of, and Responses to, Increasing Atmospheric CO2 and Climate Change

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman J. Rosenberg ◽  
Pierre R. Crosson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Greenhouse Warming ◽  
Future Change ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Resource Limitations ◽  
The Future ◽  
Current Water

In a study that was recently completed at Resources for the Future, the impacts of a future change in climate on the total economy of the Missouri–Iowa–Nebraska–Kansas (MINK) region were assessed, as were the possibilities of response (including adaptation) to the climatic change. Impacts on agriculture, forestry, water resources, and energy, were emphasized. The study was future-oriented, focusing on the year 2030, by which time the effects of ‘greenhouse’ warming may be felt. The records of the AD 1930s were used to provide an analog of the kinds of climate change (warmer and drier) that climate models predict will occur in the MINK region.Our results indicate that impacts of the projected climate change on agriculture, at least in the future, are expected to be profound, but that likely-to-be available technologies should facilitate substantial adaptation; that current water-resource limitations in the region would be exacerbated and lead to an eastward shift in irrigation; that impacts on forestry would be severe, and that opportunities for forestry adaptation would be very limited unless biomass production were to become economically viable; and that the net impacts on energy supply and demand would be small and adaptation to them relatively simple.Climate change in the MINK region could, of course, go somewhat beyond the conditions represented by the AD 1930s analog, in which case the findings of this study may be too optimistic. However, the future-oriented ‘MINK methodology’ is not scenario-dependent, and can be used to test other, more severe (or benign), scenarios as well. Further, the capacity for adaptation to climate change demonstrated in this study, may remain applicable even in more stringent circumstances.

scholarly journals Identification of Water-Reuse Potentials to Strengthen Rural Areas in Water-Scarce Regions—The Case Study of Wuwei

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 492
Author(s):  
Sonja Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Sustainable Water Supply ◽  
Current Water ◽  
Water Scarce

Due to water scarcity, which is worsening due to climate change, rural areas often face the challenge of rural exoduses. Limited water resources restrict local farmers as the opportunities for cultivation in the fields are reduced. This makes rural areas increasingly unattractive. To strengthen rural areas, sustainable water management with a focus on water-reuse is required. Since treated wastewater is a daily resource with calculable quantities available, reused water can contribute to the sustainable strengthening of a region. Therefore, an analysis of water-reuse potentials must be conducted to develop a water-reuse concept and thus increase the application of reused water. For this purpose, a case study of Wuwei as a rural and water-scarce region in China was chosen. By using a geoinformation system, the unfulfilled water-reuse potential can be identified by intersecting the results of the analysis regarding the current water supply and disposal situation with spatial and regional information, such as population data. Hence, the study presents the potential to increase wastewater treatment and water-reuse for, e.g., agricultural irrigation. It is shown that, in the best case, reused water can be increased from 5479 m3 per day to 207,461 m3 per day. Resource efficiency can be further increased by combining water-reuse concepts with land-use strategies adapted to climate change. This will ensure a more sustainable water supply in the future.

scholarly journals Water-Centric Nexus Approach for the Agriculture and Forest Sectors in Response to Climate Change in the Korean Peninsula

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1657
Author(s):  
Chul-Hee Lim
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Spatial Models ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Agricultural Water ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
The Future

Climate change has inherent multidisciplinary characteristics, and predicting the future of a single field of work has a limit. Therefore, this study proposes a water-centric nexus approach for the agriculture and forest sectors for improving the response to climate change in the Korean Peninsula. Two spatial models, i.e., Environmental Policy Integrated Climate and Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs, were used to assess the extent of changes in agricultural water demand, forest water supply, and their balance at the watershed level in the current and future climatic conditions. Climate changed has increased the agricultural water demand and forest water supply significantly in all future scenarios and periods. Comparing the results with RCP8.5 2070s and the baseline, the agricultural water demand and forest water supply increased by 35% and 28%, respectively. Water balance assessment at the main watershed level in the Korean Peninsula revealed that although most scenarios of the future water supply increases offset the demand growth, a risk to water balance exists in case of a low forest ratio or smaller watershed. For instance, the western plains, which are the granary regions of South and North Korea, indicate a higher risk than other areas. These results show that the land-use balance can be an essential factor in a water-centric adaptation to climate change. Ultimately, the water-centric nexus approach can make synergies by overcoming increasing water demands attributable to climate change.

scholarly journals Rising Seas: Coastal Adaptation to Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Shivani Patel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Storm Surges ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

<p><b>Science tells us that we are close to the irreversible tipping point into an unknown climate of the Anthropocene in which humanity has no option but to adapt or to be destroyed. Human influence is changing the earth and a major factor is urbanisation. Cities are one of the largest contributors to global climate change.</b></p> <p>This thesis develops a design-led research methodology and approach that develops alternative, speculative landscape intervention strategies to bridge the gap between climate change science and the landscape and the residents of Island Bay, in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. This research aims to take full advantage of new technologies and systems to provide resilient social, ecological and physical solutions for the coastal neighbourhood in the face of climate-related change. These solutions form a comprehensive framework and tools that anticipate a foreseeable future of saturated landscapes. It is a strategy that builds the adaptive capacity of the coastal zone, enhances existing natural systems, accommodates a variety of best coastal management practices and integrates alternative concepts in the coastal neighbourhood adaptation management plan.</p> <p>These solutions address the unpredictable issue of rising sea levels, storm surges and coastal inundation. In addition, the approach fosters urban environment solutions at various scales, such what a property owner can do and what public/private cooperation can do. Overall, this new integrated system approach has the potential to recalibrate urban coastal environments, catalyse resiliency and provide a robust model for designing mitigative, adaptative coastal communities in response to rising sea-levels and to support a new set of relationships between nature and urbanity.</p>

scholarly journals Similarities of Minoan and Indus Valley Hydro-Technologies

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4897 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Khan ◽  
E. Dialynas ◽  
V. K. Kasaraneni ◽  
A. N. Angelakis
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Geographic Distance ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Indus Valley ◽  
European Culture ◽  
Aegean Islands ◽  
History Of

This review evaluates Minoan and Indus Valley hydro-technologies in southeastern Greece and Indus Valley Pakistan, respectively. The Minoan civilization first inhabited Crete and several Aegean islands shortly after the Late Neolithic times and flourished during the Bronze Age (ca 3200–1100 BC). At that time, the Minoan civilization developed fundamental technologies and reached its pinnacle as the first and most important European culture. Concurrently, the Indus Valley civilization populated the eastern bank of the Indus River, its tributaries in Pakistan, and the Ganges plains in India and Nadia (Bangladesh), spreading over an area of about one million km2. Its total population was unknown; however, an estimated 43,000 people resided at Harappa. The urban hydro-technologies, characteristics of a civilization can be determined by two specific aspects, the natural and the social environment. These two aspects cover a variety of factors, such as climate and social conditions, type of terrain, water supply, agriculture, water logging, sanitation and sewerage, hygienic conditions of communities, and racial features of the population. Therefore, these factors were used to understand the water resources management practices in early civilizations (e.g., Minoan and Indus Valley) and similarities, despite the large geographic distance between places of origin. Also discussed are the basic principles and characteristics of water management sustainability in both civilizations and a comparison of basic water supply and sanitation practices through the long history of the two civilizations. Finally, sustainability issues and lessons learned are considered.

scholarly journals Land Fragmentation, Technical Efficiency, and Adaptation to Climate Change by Farmers in the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10304
Author(s):  
Tesfaye C. Cholo ◽  
Jack Peerlings ◽  
Luuk Fleskens
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Land Fragmentation ◽  
Large Yield ◽  
Yield Gaps

Although barley production is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, households in the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia rely on barley for their diet and allocate most of their highly-fragmented land to barley production. Moreover, farmers alter land management practices as a strategy to adjust to climate change and variability. However, to what extent land fragmentation and land management jointly influence the technical efficiency of barley production is unknown. In addition, it is unidentified whether technical efficiency is uniform across multiple separated plots. In this study, we adapted two stochastic frontier panel models on plot-level cross-sectional data to investigate this. The model results indicate that fragmentation influences the effect of land management practices on efficiency. The study found that efficiency was not uniform across different plots and for different farmers and showed the existence of large yield gaps. To close these gaps, policies designed to address the specific components of inefficiency need to be implemented.

scholarly journals Integrated Modeling of Water Supply and Demand Under Climate Change Impacts and Management Options in Tributary Basin of Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2462
Author(s):  
Tharo Touch ◽  
Chantha Oeurng ◽  
Yanan Jiang ◽  
Ali Mokhtar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Environmental Flow ◽  
Integrated Modeling ◽  
Supply Management ◽  
Management Options ◽  
The Future

An integrated modeling approach analyzing water demand and supply balances under management options in a river basin is essential for the management and adaptive measures of water resources in the future. This study evaluated the impacts of climate change on the hydrological regime by predicting the change in both monthly and seasonal streamflow, and identified water supply and demand relations under supply management options and environmental flow maintenance. To reach a better understanding of the consequences of possible climate change scenarios and adaptive management options on water supply, an integrated modeling approach was conducted by using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) and water evaluation and planning model (WEAP). Future scenarios were developed for the future period: 2060s (2051–2070), using an ensemble of three general circulation model (GCM) simulations: GFDL-CM3, GISS-E2-R-CC, and IPSL-CM5A-MR, driven by the climate projection for representative concentration pathways (RCPs): 6.0 (medium emission scenario). The results indicated that, firstly, the future streamflow will decrease, resulting in a decline of future water availability. Secondly, water supply under natural flow conditions would support 46,167 ha of irrigation schemes and the water shortages will be more noticeable when environmental flow maintenance was considered. The study concludes that reservoir construction would be necessary for agriculture mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, the water resources management options considering both supply and demand management are more effective and useful than supply management only, particularly in dealing with climate change impacts.

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